The present invention relates to exercise equipment, and in particular to portable exercise devices used by individuals.
A wide variety of exercise equipment has been developed for working most areas of the human body. Of these, many early pieces of exercise equipment utilized freestanding weights and the like, and were each used for a wide range of different exercises that worked various different muscle groups. The subsequent development of more complex exercise machines has generally been directed to a limiting of the number of muscle groups or areas of the body worked by each individual piece of equipment, but these more specific, complex machines arguably result in a more thorough or safer working of each specific muscle group. As a result, a number of relatively complex and expensive machines have been developed which cumulatively exercise most areas of the human body. Although such equipment is normally quite effective, the size, complexity and expense of such equipment is prohibitive for most individuals, resulting in such equipment normally being acquired and used at health clubs and the like.
A number of other less complex exercise apparatus have also been developed that are intended to work particular muscle groups or areas of the body. One such general class or type of apparatus include bars, harnesses or the like which are worn about the user's shoulders in order to provide added weight or resistance while doing various exercises. Although such devices may be used either alone or in conjunction with other weights in various bending and stretching exercises, one muscle group or area that receives less attention than others is that of the neck. Since the neck is not normally used directly in most sporting events, it is quite often overlooked in individuals' exercise regimes. Nonetheless, mobility of a person's neck is required in almost every athletic endeavor, as well as in most other daily activities. As a result, the neck quite often becomes a location for fatigue or the storage of tension long before other areas of the body.